Professor Selina Todd argues that you can be taught to write well, as demonstrated by American and Australian university students. Plus letters from Christopher Dodd and Anthony OrmsonIan Jack’s wariness towards writing manuals and classes is a peculiarly British response to teaching this craft (So you want to write better sentences than Jane Austen?, 27 May. While visiting Australian universities a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the fluency and clarity of the (history) students’ prose. It turned out they were taught to write – not by rote learning grammar, which is the only form of pedagogy recognised by the current British government, but in lively writing workshops that encouraged them to believe that anyone, given time and hard work, could write well. Conversations with American colleagues revealed a similar mindset and introduced me to the American writer William Zinsser, whose book On Writing Well I recommend to all my students. Zinsser’s democratic premise is that good writing is the result of hard work, not innate “talent”. That’s a radical realisation for many British students, brought up with the gentlemanly myth that talent is hereditary, effortless and looks a lot like a public schoolboy.It is no coincidence that Zinsser spent part of his career at the New School in New York, the self-declared “comprehensive university”. In Britain, the adult education movement, including the Workers’ Educational Association, and the Open University, has... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2017-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. Copyright Office is soliciting public comments on a massive 234-page report and legislative proposal dealing with one of copyright’s central problems—orphan works. But with a week left in the comment period, librarians and archivists—groups that once supported orphan works... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Computer-generated fiction might seem a tipping point for artificial intelligence, but it could help us to understand the world we live inIn 1983, William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter released a book called The Policeman’s Beard Is Half Constructed, described as the “early fiction” of a computer... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The newest book from Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author of The Happiness Project, examines how we can change our habits. Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton
[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2015-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catalonia, which sits in the northeast region of Spain, counts 7 million inhabitants. But, with a population that reads as readily in Spanish as it does in Catalan, local publishers face numerous hurdles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jessica Hopper on how she kept her creative dream job—and her family—thriving.In the early '90s, then-ninth-grader Jessica Hopper started putting out a fanzine to write about her favorite bands in Minneapolis. She turned that into assignments for local publications like City Pages, and then... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Matt Sumell, author of the exceptional "Making Nice," on writing as an "emotionally expensive" undertaking. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For traditional publishers, creating video efficiently without stepping on brand toes is a tricky process. The post 4 ways magazines are making video work appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There was a time when Barnes & Noble was so big, so dominating, that even Tom Hanks managed to look like a jerk when he played a book-chain executive. But times have changed, and as people began to order their books online -- or even download them --... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-08-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook says that hundreds of online companies have adopted its plan to let mobile apps operate more like the world wide web, seamlessly linking together in much the same way that pages do inside your web browser. According to Facebook’s Vijay Shankar, these companies have published over 3... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is it too much to ask for a comic book flick that doesn't rely on three crappy prequels for the plot to make sense? Let's lose the complicated, interwoven storylines and focus on quality standalone films. Angry Nerd explains why Marvel's new Guardians of the Galaxy gets it just right. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corporation's news executive seeks local journalism deal with press owners, saying differences have been 'overdone'James Harding, the BBC's director of news and current affairs, opened a conference on local journalism today by arguing that the differences between the corporation and newspaper... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Veteran author Christian Jennings offers tips, techniques and strategies on how to write a good non-fiction proposal for submission. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The upcoming Digiday Content Marketing Awards include a category for best publishing native advertising program. We asked presenters from our upcoming Digiday Publishing Summit to offer their insights on what makes effective native ads.The post Rising above the listicle: What makes a good native... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dell's Venue 11 Pro is the first Atom-powered computer that I can picture as a replacement for my current laptop. With its two optional accessories, this 10.8-inch tablet can transform into either a small notebook or a diminutive all-in-one PC. The two-day battery life—with the optional keyboard... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the early 2000s, while working as a producer at ABC’s 20/20, Bill McGowan put together a branding video for a dot-com entrepreneur. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Most readers who preordered Charlaine Harris’s forthcoming Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead Ever After (which will be released May 7), likely did so at Amazon, where it is 45% off and has hovered in the top 50 for weeks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The trick to making the Random House/Penguin Group merger work will be to create a publisher that can take advantage of the resources and economies of scale a company with revenue of $4 billion brings and combine that with an editorial approach that emphasizes close cooperation with authors,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The term content licensing is an ambiguous one, especially among publishers. Some consider reprints and e-prints to be a full-fledged content licensing operation; while others leasing out logos and awards for third-party use count it as their content licensing service. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
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I was balancing a plate of honeydew in the green room of a book festival when I walked by a white man bemoaning the state of the publishing industry. The man wore a suit, and he spoke to a white woman; both of them looked to be in their 40s. As the man speared a […] The post I Don’t Have To... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-27 11:05:00 UTC ]
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